🔒Construction moving ahead at Roux Institute’s evolving Portland campus

Consigli Construction on Monday topped off the central structure for the future home of Northeastern University's Roux Institute, under construction at the former site of B&M Baked Beans in Portland’s East Deering neighborhood. The soaring, seven-story futuristic structure, to be known as the Alfond Center, will be the academic hub for the Roux Institute. The building will house classrooms, labs and research spaces, with a focus on advancing Maine’s economy and talent pipeline in digital engineering, the life sciences and artificial intelligence. Monday was a frigid day for the ceremony, and the property is perched on the edge of Casco Bay, but Mainebiz was excited to get a closer look at the building that's been dominating the view from Portland's East End and I-295. Donning hardhat and chartreuse vest, I joined close to 100 members of the Consigli team and representatives from Northeastern and CambridgeSeven to get a first-hand look.

Signatures were scribbled on the 15-foot steel beam, painted white for the occasion, and a three-foot tall potted fir tree had been secured to the top — an ancient Scandinavian tradition thought to bring good luck and prosperity to the building while showing gratitude to the forest spirits for the wood harvested for the project. The beam was hoisted into place amid cheers and without a hitch — a sign that the gods had been appeased? Construction on the $320 million, 245,000-square-foot Alfond Center began in 2024 and Senior Project Manager Christina Consigli told Mainebiz that construction will wrap up in 2027. Northeastern plans to welcome students for the spring 2028 semester. Massachusetts-based CambridgeSeven architects, said the building’s design is inspired by Bailey Island's cribstone bridge. It will include a three-story mass timber section with a roof terrace. Fully electric heating and cooling systems will incorporate geothermal wells and air-source heat pumps to target net-zero operations.

The one building on the property that remains from B&M's manufacturing days, is the 58,000-square-foot former factory, which is being renovated to provide workspaces for startups and businesses supporting innovation and entrepreneurship. When completed, the campus will also include a parking garage with an attached child care center and public green spaces. Pedestrian and bicycle paths along the shores of Casco Bay will link the campus to the Portland peninsula. A water taxi from the city to a newly constructed dock on the property, could potentially provide access to the campus as well. Access to the location is currently through a residential neighborhood off Veranda Street, but a new offramp is planned from Washington Avenue exit off I-295. Future plans for the 13.5-acre site also call for a hotel and possibly housing for some of the anticipated 4,000-member graduate student body.